Previous Events

Rhetoric 2007 Reunion, from Ola Alli

“After some let’s say “gentle” reminders from the Holt Twins I set about the daunting task of getting the rest of Rhetoric 2007 together for our 10 year reunion. As the date drew nearer and nearer I slowly started to worry that I was on the brink of helping organise the Reunion with the lowest attendance in recent history!

Luckily I needed not worry and on October 14th circa 50 OS arrived at Stonyhurst from all over the UK and abroad with a special mention going out to the “3 Musketeers” who came all the way from Hong Kong. We all agreed it was one of the best weekends we have had in a long time that really showed how comfortable and happy we still are in each other’s company, it was as if we had never left.

It all “officially” began late Saturday morning with a shandy or two at the Bayley Arms, followed by a walk down the Avenue and gathering in the Pieta Gallery where we were split into boys and girls and taken on a tour by members of Rhetoric playroom. It was amazing to see how the school has changed since we were students and whilst the facilities had improved the spirit of the school remained intact.

After the tour and some refreshments we all got ready for a black tie dinner in the Top Ref for some amazing food, wine and a lot of laughter which was made all the more special as we were joined by Mr Warrilow, Mr Ridout, Mrs Whalley and Miss Fielding. After a speech or two post dinner (James Kennedy what were you thinking?) we then retired to the Bayley Arms where we were joined by teachers and a few parents to reminisce about the great memories we shared together, before we ventured down to Rios to end the night in style.

Sunday morning helped cement the fact that we were indeed 10 years older and with a few sore heads we attended a lovely Sunday Mass service. It was then back to the Bayley Arms for some final goodbyes and promises all around that we won’t leave it another 10 years before we see each other again.

On behalf of Rhetoric 2007 I want to extend a massive thank you to Layla and Beverley for helping make such a special weekend happen. For those of Rhetoric 07 who weren’t able to attend you were sorely missed and it was great to see how the bond we made all those years ago remains as strong as ever and long may that continue.”

Stonyhurst Association Annual Dinner 2016

The President, Fr Nicholas King SJ. writes:

The dinner was held at Stonyhurst this year, the Ambulacrum transformed into a palace, thanks to a wonderful team and the generous efficiency of Beverley Sillitoe. It was a great occasion, an excellent meal, with perhaps the highlight being the speech by Sr Jane Livesey (she claimed that it was the first time that she had given an after-dinner discourse, but it was as to the manner born, as many people commented). She is of course sister of two OS, former Head at Shaftesbury, then Provincial of the English Province, and now Mother General of the Congregation of Jesus, once known as the IBVM, who had graciously surrendered a weekend for the purpose of addressing the Stonyhurst family. Her talk dwelt on Truth and Trust, as they apply to Stonyhurst; she started with some of the lessons of her recent visit to Cuba. It was a remarkable speech, and for many observers it made the evening.

And there was, of course, John Browne, the new headmaster and his wife Marie. He made an excellent speech and then followed it up, winning much admiration, by playing the organ at Mass the next morning. There were other speeches, too; one was from the President, Fr Nicholas King SJ, who had taken on the office precisely half a century after his father had held it. He spoke ofthe role of tradition in a place like Stonyhurst, enabling the living institution to look forward and back, and doing it in a different way in every generation, meeting the needs of the time.

There was a good turnout, and some very valued guests, including Mary Bailey, whose family represents such a solid bulwark of our tradition, Brian Ashton, a former coach to the Under-15 cricket team (and, as it happens, the England Rugby side), the Chairman of Governors and his wife, Charles Foulds and Wilf Usher, former stalwarts of the Stonyhurst tradition; and the Jesuits who graciously turned up to the dinner. And there was an outstanding speech by Madeleine Coulston, the Head of the Line; many experienced judges commented that they will watch her future career with great interest.

Rhetoric 2006 Reunion

From Julian Dineen

The Rhetoricians of 2006 met at the College for their 10 year reunion in October. The weekend began at 2.30pm on the Saturday in the Pieta Gallery, although I think for many it unofficially began the night before in the Bayley! Upon arrival we were greeted by Beverley Sillitoe, Layla Heaton and the new headmaster John Browne who chatted to many of us individually, finding out what we were up to 10 years on and us in turn finding out how he was settling into his new role and surroundings, having only started a few weeks ago.

After time spent in animated conversation with one another, catching up with friends many of whom hadn’t seen each other since leaving and reminiscing over old sports photographs as well as some of our old valete entries which had been laid out on view, John Browne addressed us all, welcoming us back to the College and outlined some of the changes that had taken place since we had left, such as Weld House and the New Refectory, as well as some of the changes scheduled to take place in the near future, including the refurbishment of New Wing.

Subsequently three current Rhetoricians took us off for a tour. It was wonderful to be wondering down the galleries again with the friends who were there with you and it was easy to slip back into imagining you were still there, until you saw a current student that is and you realised you’ve aged a little since then. Many of us remembered seeing 10 year reunions when we were students and thinking how old they looked, now it was our turn!

I can’t speak for the girls as they were taken off on their own for part of the tour to see the girls house but many of us boys couldn’t quite get over the disappearance of New York although we were all very impressed by the New Ref that has taken its place. We were also rather flabbergasted at finding out that Weld House had en-suite bathrooms and lifts! Quite different to when we ran down the stairs of New Wing in our towels to the communal showers in the basement that were always either scolding hot or freezing cold! We were also all impressed at the refurbishment of St Peters and after some time searching, Jack Haynes and Kamran Mayer were able to locate the trap door in the floor once ventured down by several members of our year, no doubt when we were meant to be somewhere else! Later on, we met back in the Bayley Room where refreshments had been laid on before most of us made our way up the Avenue for a pre-dinner drink.

Dinner in the Top Ref began with a champagne reception at 7pm where we had the chance to catch up with a few of our former teachers, including John Hopkins, Stas Callinicos, Fr Matthew Power and Fr John Twist before they joined us in sitting down to what was a delicious meal. There was a wonderful atmosphere at dinner with conversation in full flow.

Dinner was followed by speeches where it was highlighted how well attended this reunion was (one of the best turnouts I’m told) and how far many people had travelled to be there, some from as far afield as Columbia, Malaysia and Japan to name just three! We then also took a moment to remember our fellow Rhetoricians, Ellen Charleuf (nee Riley) and Mani Emmerhor who are sadly no longer with us. After the speeches, the drinks continued to flow before we were asked to make our way to the Bayley where the reunion continued into the early hours of the morning.

The following day there was a healthy attendance at mass in St Peters, all with sore heads, bringing back memories of 10 years earlier, with all of us heartily joining in in a rousing rendition of the Pater Noster. Refreshments in the Do Room followed and then a fascinating tour of the newly refurbished Arundell, Bay and Square Libraries by Stas Callinicos, although I think the thing we most marvelled at was the new entrance, off the Arundell Library, into what had been our old Higher Line playroom. Many of us struggled to get our heads around its proximity to the libraries and it also appeared rather smaller than we remembered. Working out where the bar had been helped us reimagine it in its former state!

The whole weekend was an enormous success and a great time was had by all with many messages been posted to the RH06 Reunion Facebook group expressing how much they had enjoyed it. The fact so many had travelled from all across the world to be there truly showed just how much Stonyhurst meant and still means to so many and we all left agreeing that we must all try and meet up more frequently.